Is Israel a racist state?

MK Sharren Haskel responds to PA accusations at Inter-Parliamentary Union assembly, points out PA laws which are racist against Jews.

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Arutz Sheva Staff, 16/10/17 15:29

Sharren Haskel

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MK Sharren Haskel (Likud), who was recently elected to serve on the Israeli delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union's (IPU) 137th assembly in St. Petersburg this week, responded to accusations from the Palestinian Authority that Israel is a "racist" and a "terrorist" state.

"You say that Israel has racist laws. The law in the Palestinian Authority says that anyone who sells land to a Jew will be killed. Is that a racist law? Your racist legislation has been racist against Jews for years now," MK Haskel told the PA representative.

"Israel is the only country in the Middle East that is a democracy, that gives equal rights to all of its citizens, regardless of whether they are Muslim, Christian, Jews, Bedouin, Druze, or Arabs. In that sense, I think that it is quite obvious that when you say that the only problem is the 'occupation', you need to look inside. Have a look at what the problem really is. When you stop in inciting your terrorism, your violence, and your hatred, then we will really be able to live and coexist.

"We coexist in Israel with all these multi-cultures and different religions, yet you still continue to incite your younger generation to more and more hatred and terrorism. Look at what happened in Gaza, with their autonomy. Where did they invest all of their infrastructure money, that they could sell towards water, or electricity, or education? Into terror tunnels! Into missile systems! Is that coexistence? Or is that more war, hatred and violence?

"When you are willing to sit and negotiate the terms of real coexistence between us, without this hatred, without this violence, then we will be able to see a better future for both of us," she concluded.

The IPU is one of the oldest international organizations, and possesses UN observer status. The Union serves as a forum for meetings and dialogue between members of parliaments from different nations in order to advance the goals of peace and cooperation between the nations, as well as the advancement of representative democracy.